Music mogul Simon Cowell has revealed that he is no longer in touch with Zayn Malik because he feels that it's only appropriate to be loyal and fully involved with the remaining members of One Direction.

Speaking to Yahoo! Celebrity this week at the launch of 'The X Factor', Cowell explained that he is working strictly with One Direction because Zayn Malik has now moved to a different part of the Sony record label (RCA) so he is no longer in need of Cowell's attention:

“I’m not in touch with Zayn. Once we’d made the decision that he was going to be on a different part of Sony, which is good for him, my responsibility was obviously the guys and their next record. But Zayn is going to be fine."

Cowell, meanwhile, also recently told Capital FM that while One Direction will enjoy some time off in 2016, he isn't certain they will reform once the planned hiatus is over:

"I think Louis, I know, wants to be an A&R guy - run a label - because he was always going to be good at that. I haven't gone into too much detail with the others... when you actually take time off, you've got to take time off. Every one of them can do what they want. I think they'll miss each other. They are the nicest, nicest guys."

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Watch Cowell talking about Malik's decision to quit the band here: